The Nordschleife

Lineup of production versions of the Lexus LFA, one of the contenders in the Production, street-legal category

The Radical SR8. The LM version claimed the lap record for the fastest road-legal car in the world with a time of 6:48

The Dodge Viper ACR upset the field in 2011 with a time of 7:12:13

The Nürburgring (Nordschleife) in Germany, with its remaining 20.8 km (12.9 mi) long old section dating from 1927, is used by various motoring media outlets and vehicle manufacturers for testing. Manufacturers publish times for promotional purposes while automotive media outlets usually publish times for comparison and reporting purposes. According to Car and Driver, Nürburgring Nordschleife "record-chasing runs are a universally accepted, objective measure of a car’s performance, and shaving seconds gives automakers reasons to grab some headlines."[1] Compared to the current version, the original Nürburgring track was longer and split into three configurations. The entire track, the Gesamtstrecke (see map above) was 28.3 kilometres in length, composed of the Nordschleife (22.8 km), the Südschleife (7.7 km), and the Betonschleife – the latter a short 2 kilometer warm-up loop around the pit area. The lengths of the two segments, when considered separately, add up to more than the whole, since each circuit effectively shared the Betonschleife.[2]

Timing entities

Apart from races and timing events under the rules of their respective sanctioning bodies, there are no official rules that govern the measurement and certification of lap time on the Nordschleife. [3] For the announcement of production car lap times, submission of an official announcement, accompanied by an on-board video with telemetry, and a mention of the tyres used have become customary.[4]

Timing by media

The German magazine sport auto publishes its "Supertest" of cars, in which the lap time (usually driven by editor-in-chief Horst von Saurma) at the Nordschleife is the most discussed result. The magazine also runs a challenge for the fastest lap time driven with a car that is road legal (TÜV) and registered in Germany. The road legality rule also applies for the tyres.

British motorcycle magazine Performance Bikes began testing their bikes in a regular feature at the Nordschleife in March 2007 and finished in December 2007. Bikes were tested by Dale Lomas and a character named only as The Baron. As with sport auto, all machines tested are road-legal (MOT) and shod with road-legal Bridgestone BT002 Pro Race tyres. To date there are 28 lap times published in the regular feature. As motorcycles are forbidden to participate in industry pool sessions and after-hours test sessions, Performance Bikes were forced to test during quiet mid-week tourist sessions, where speed limits apply in some sections. This means their lap times are measured from bridge to gantry (see below) and are approximately 22 seconds shorter than a full 20.832 km (12.944 mi) Nordschleife lap.

Nordschleife runs are conducted or observed by various other media outlets, such as the British Evo Magazine or Auto Bild from Germany.

Timing by manufacturers

Manufacturers, especially those of supercars, conduct their own timing runs and publish these for varying purposes. Manufacturers also lend support to private entities or media outlets.

Timing by private drivers

Some lap times are even claimed to have been done during tourist driving sessions. It is forbidden to race on tourist days. Additionally, there are two speed limits (one in Breidscheid, and one on "Döttinger Höhe") on tourist days.

Controversies

Nordschleife runs are not without sometimes prominent critics. The British motoring programme Top Gear used the Nordschleife for their challenges, often involving Sabine Schmitz. Top Gear's James May, however, was very critical of the influence of Nordschleife lap timing, saying that it "corrupts performance when it is used by car makers to develop new models. Testing prototype cars on a circuit is nothing new, obviously: it's probably been going on since someone drove a horseless carriage onto a disused donkey derby track. But the 'Ring, through being communal and open to all, encourages a pointless scrabble for comparative lap times that isn't helping you or me."[5] According to Popular Science, "beating the 'ring, and making a YouTube video to prove it, is about the best marketing move a sports car company can make, even one that plans to roll only a double-digits'-worth of cars out of its production facility."[6]

The Nissan GT-R NISMO set a lap time of 7:08.679.

The views and definitions differ among automakers and also among journalists. According to Porsche, the Porsche 918 Spyder did set a "Nurburgring record for a street-legal automobile",[7] while the car landed on place 3 on this list behind two Radical SR8. With roof reinforced for safety reasons and observed by sport auto,[8] the record was widely reported by the media. Magazines like Car and Driver and "the wider automotive industry" declared the worldwide street-legal Porsche 918 the new record holder since the SR8 didn't meet full type-approval and only could get British single-vehicle approval.[9][10][11][12]

Two months later, Nissan claimed, which was also widely reported in the media, a ring record for its Nissan GT-R Nismo as "world's fastest volume production car". Engineers later confessed that the car had been "specifically tuned for the Nurburgring" with significant changes from the standard car. The Nissan GT-R was fourth place on this list at the time. [13][14]

Track lengths and timing

Porsche 956 - Overall Record Holder on the current 20832m variant

There are varying lap lengths. Therefore, not all of the lap times are comparable.

Full lap

A full lap of the Nordschleife, bypassing the modern GP track, is 20.832 km (12.944 mi) long. Most laps are completed 200 metres (656 ft) shorter for safety reasons. Full uninterrupted flying laps can only be done in closed sessions and race events like Castrol-Haugg-Cup.

Bridge to gantry

During tourist driving sessions, the full main straight cannot be driven at speed due to the exit/entrance. These laps are usually timed "bridge to gantry", which is only 19.1 km (11.9 mi). The lap goes from the "bridge" to the "gantry" (currently carrying Audi sponsorship.)[15]

Lap times

Production, street-legal vehicles

A production vehicle is defined as "one that is put into mass production, as a model produced in large numbers and offered for sale to the public." VCA, the United Kingdom's national approval authority for new road vehicles[16] defines a production vehicle as "a vehicle of a make, model and type mass produced by the vehicle manufacturer." Guinness World Records was reported to require a minimum of 30[17] and other lists within Wikipedia require at least 25 road legal cars built. For this site it's enough that it's no one-off, even if only 2 or 3 cars were built. The Nürburgring is a public (toll-) road, and regulations of Germany and the EU apply. For the purpose of this list, a car is “street legal” if it can be registered in at least one EU country for road use, even if it can't pass German TÜV.

For new entries, this list requires an official manufacturer’s press release for manufacturer-conducted tests. If the test has been conducted by an independent publication, an article in that publication is required. New entries require an original, uncut on-board video, showing the lap and the timing from start to finish. A statement that road legal OEM tyres have been used is required.

Technical info of chassis. Car is a series produced Formula Ford racer converted for road use that including the addition of registration plates, wheel covers, front and rear lights, revised wing mirrors and a horn. The car was driven on road-legal tyres. Ford conducted test.

Time was set on a non-exclusive public track day with other cars present. Car has been modified by Loaded to include a custom supercharger that puts out 180 PS (132 kW; 178 hp) more than the stock car's 360 PS (265 kW; 355 hp) 3.2L inline 6 BMW S54 engine. Car is road legal outside of North America.

Refer to link for modification details. Modified by Japanese automotive accessory company Blitz, it was claimed to be capable of 750 PS (552 kW; 740 hp) but ran on 606 bhp (452 kW; 614 PS) when time was recorded.

Developmental car, not full production car. "...we cant resist asking what its lap time is and Richter, (Gerhard Richter, director of M GmbH) reveals that it's 8:15, but that time was set with a development car rather than the final, optimum, production-ready car."

Electric RaceAbout of Finland is road legal and registered prototype battery electric vehicle. Test was run by Helsinki Metropolia University of Applied Sciences using Nokian Z G2 high performance road tyres.[303] Time will also be verified and published by Sport Auto.

Chery conducted test. This modified car differs from the production model with added roll-cage, stripped out interior, upgraded brakes, rims and tyres. Not clear whether the engine had been tuned. Chery claimed that they have been the first Chinese auto maker that 'Conquered the Nürburgring (中国首驱，征服纽博格林！)'.

Clarkson was set a challenge to get a Jaguar S-Type 2.7 Diesel round the 'ring in under 10 minutes, and after getting shown around and getting advice from Sabine Schmitz, and quite a few attempts, he managed a 9:59. Sabine went on to say that she could do this lap time in a van. She completed the lap in the same car as Clarkson in 9:12.

After telling Jeremy Clarkson that she could do his lap time in a van, Schmitz was set the same challenge as Clarkson, but in a Ford Transit. After a few attempts, she found this was impossible, so she had to strip some weight out of the van and have a Dodge Viper drive in front of it for slipstream. Vehicle had several parts removed and the draft vehicle in front of it for the 10:08 lap time. Top Gear Series 6, Episode 7. Originally aired 10 July 2005[308]

F1 testing

During the unofficial practice for the 1974 F1 Grand Prix, Niki Lauda drove a lap of 6:58.2 in his Ferrari 312B3. This is the all-time fastest lap on the classic Nürburgring before the rebuild, even faster than his 1975 qualifying time (6:58.6).[338][339]

On 28 April 2007, Nick Heidfeld drove a BMW Sauber F1.06Formula One car around the Nordschleife, on a BMW publicity day in combination with a VLN 4h endurance race.[340] For safety reasons, BMW announced that the car was slowed with hard demonstration tyres, maximum ride height, and 275 km/h top speed limited by the transmission. Heidfeld drove three laps on the combined Nordschleife and short GP-track, as used in VLN races, with a track length of 24.433 km (so comparison with older records is difficult).

The official lap time released by BMW Sauber was declared to be 8:34 (thus ca. 30 seconds slower than the fastest Porsche 996 turbo in VLN). The German press duly reported this lap time, yet criticized BMW. In each lap, Heidfeld slowed down once to pose for a slow video truck, at Schwedenkreuz on the first lap 1, Kesselchen in lap 2, and Döttinger Höhe in the last lap. The two time spans in between the three passes of Heidfeld were clocked by some fans around the track, first Wehrseifen to Wehrseifen in about 7:28, then 7:22 from Klostertal to Klostertal, which is over 50 seconds quicker than the fastest current Porsche 997 GT3 RSR in VLN. This translates to an average of about 200 km/h (120 mph), similar to Bellof's record, but considering the slow GP section, Heidfeld probably was faster on the Nordschleife, close to 6 minutes. Fans who respect the official record of the late Stefan Bellof settle for an "estimated 6:12".[citation needed]

Road & Track magazine reported Heidfeld's lap was a 5:57 or 5:58 (for the Nordschleife only), breaking the track's six-minute barrier for the first time in history.[341] However, their times were done by measuring the speed in some corners, and then calculating a lap time, and not timing a full lap. Heidfeld has since expressed his desire to repeat the experience with less restriction.

According to formula one F1 Racing magazine of June 2006, BMW engineers had estimated that a BMW-Sauber F1.06 could lap in under 5:15.8[342] which equals to an average of 237 km/h (147 mph).

Motorcycles

Racing

As motorcycle contests were discontinued after 1994, this remains the fastest officially timed motorcycle lap ever on the 20,832 m variant (159.7 km/h). Done in a single lap time trial run during Zuverlässigkeitsfahrt series on road legal VFR750R RC30 and Metzeler ME Z1 tyres.

^Regazzoni, starting from third row (with 7:01,6), in lap 7, while on position 2, set a new lap record with (192.79 km/h) 7:06.4. This record will stand forever. (translated from German) p.102, Jörg-Thomas Födisch, Robert Ostrovsky: Grüne Hölle Nürburgring, 1995, ISBN3-922300-53-7